Yalain

The town was located to the east of Lake Petén Itzá and was said to have been farmed by the inhabitants of Nojpetén, the capital city of the Itza kingdom.

Don and Prudence Rice have disputed the location of the Yalain capital being so far east on the basis that it would be too far for the inhabitants of Nojpetén to tend their fields.

[7] When the Spanish conquered the Petén lakes in 1697 under the command of Martín de Urzúa y Arizmendi,[9] the Yalain were initially cooperative and assisted in the capture of the king of the Itza.

[10] Soon after the conquest, the Yalain fled their settlements to avoid foraging Spanish parties that were abducting Maya women for "service" at their barracks.

At this time, such was the hostility that was felt towards the occupying forces that the inhabitants of the Yalain settlements preferred to burn their fields and break all their pottery rather than leave anything for the Spanish.

[13] At Ixlu the Yalain pattern coexists with distinctive Kowoj architectural arrangements in other parts of the city, perhaps reflecting the contested nature of the site.

[5] The site of Yalain, which has given its name to the polity, is located approximately 300 metres (980 ft) from the shore on the northwest side of Lake Macanche.

The site contains a number of small residential groups that have been dated to the Classic (c. AD 250–900) and Postclassic periods.

Northern Guatemala is a flat lowland plain dropping off from the Cuchumatanes mountain range sweeping across in an arc to the south. To the east of the mountains is the large lowland Lake Izabal, with an outlet into the Amatique Bay to the east, which itself opens onto the Gulf of Honduras. Immediately north of the mountains is the Lacandon forest, with Petén to the northeast. Ystapalapán was a settlement in the western Cuchumatanes, in the territory of the Chuj. Cobán was in Q'eqchi' territory, in the foothills halfway between Ystapalapán in the west and Lake Izabal in the east. Xocolo was at the northeastern extreme of Lake Izabal, where it flows out towards the sea. Nito, also known as Amatique, was on the coast where the river flowing out of the lake opened into the Amatique Bay. The area south of the lake was Toquegua territory. The Manche occupied the lands to the northwest of the lake, with the Acala to their west between the Manche and the Chuj. The Lacandon were northwest of the Acala, straddling the border with Mexico. Lake Petén Itzá was in the centre of Petén, to the north. It was the location of Nojpetén, with the Itza lands stretching southwards from the lake. To the east of the Itza and northeast of the Manche were the Mopan, on the border with Belize. North of the Mopan were the Yalain, east of Lake Petén Itzá. The Kowoj were to the northeast of the lake and the Kejache to the northwest. The "Tierra de Guerra" ("Land of War") covers a broad northern swathe of the mountains and the southern portion of the lowlands.
Map of the northern Guatemalan lowlands at the time of Spanish contact